On the last day of 2019, the IRS issued the standard mileage rates for 2020 for business, charitable, medical, or moving expense purposes, as well as other deduction amounts.
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TOPICS / TAX
Individual income taxation
Taxpayers may deduct casualty losses in prior years
The final regulations allow more time to make the election.
Writing to win tax appeals
If taxpayers disagree with an IRS audit, they have 30 days to prepare an IRS protest. Find out how to win at IRS Appeals.
‘Gifts’ to clergy may be remuneration
Payments to a pastor did not qualify to be excluded from income as a parsonage allowance or as nontaxable gifts.
Filing season quick guide — tax year 2019
Download and print this tax season reference highlighting dollar thresholds, tax tables, standard amounts, credits, and deductions.
Humpty Dumpty meets the tax code
Annette Nellen, Esq., CPA, CGMA, walks us through four recent decisions by the U.S. Tax Court to show how the precise application of a word or phrase can make a world of difference.
Qualified opportunity zone regs. finalized
The IRS issued final regulations providing guidance on tax-favored investments in qualified opportunity zones (QOZs).
Year-end government spending bill contains many tax provisions
The consolidated appropriations bill passed by Congress makes many changes to retirement plan rules, repeals health care taxes, extends expired tax provisions, and provides tax relief for disaster victims.
5th Circuit invalidates health care law’s individual mandate
The Fifth Circuit held that the “individual mandate” under Sec. 5000A, which imposes a “shared responsibility payment” on taxpayers who do not obtain health insurance that provides at least minimum essential coverage, is unconstitutional now that the payment amount has been reduced to zero.
Guidance issued on payments to charitable organizations
The IRS issued additional rules on the treatment of deductions for charitable contributions in lieu of state and local taxes, an area in which it has already issued final regulations and other guidance.
Deadline for health care information statements extended
As it does every year, the IRS extended the due date to furnish certain health care information statements to individual taxpayers to March 2, 2020.
Safe harbor allows QBI deduction for rental real estate businesses
An earlier notice’s proposed rules are finalized with revisions and clarifications.
Per-diem method clarified in light of TCJA changes
The IRS issued updated rules for substantiating the amount of ordinary and necessary business expenses paid or incurred while traveling using the per-diem rates.
Use of standard mileage rate, other rules are updated for TCJA
The IRS updated its rules concerning the use of standard mileage rates and to reflect the current suspension of miscellaneous itemized deductions and moving expense deductions.
Like-kind exchanges and personal property
A recent law change invites new strategies.
Alimony tax gap swells to $3.2 billion, TIGTA finds
The difference resulted in $248 million of tax underreporting.
Taxpayers may deduct casualty losses in prior years
The IRS finalized regulations permitting taxpayers to deduct disaster losses in the prior tax year and removed the related temporary regulations that were issued in 2016.
IRS clarifies the tax treatment of cryptocurrency ‘hard forks’ and ‘airdrops’
The IRS ruled that a taxpayer does not have gross income as a result of a hard fork of a cryptocurrency if the taxpayer does not receive units of a new cryptocurrency, but does have gross income as a result of an airdrop of new cryptocurrency after a hard fork if the taxpayer receives units of the new cryptocurrency.
Purported family loans were not bona fide, Tax Court holds
The bank deposit method supports an IRS underpayment assessment.
IRS issues 2019 to 2020 per-diem rates for traveling away from home
The IRS issued its annual notice specifying the special per-diem rates, including the transportation industry meal and incidental expenses rates, the rate for the incidental-expenses-only deduction, and the rates and list of high-cost localities for purposes of the high-low substantiation method.
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